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ItalianEnglish Dynamics
Rick Groeneboer Ricardo van Smirren Jethro Walters Zsigmond Somogyi |first_entry = S1 Austrian GP |races = 77 |wins = 6 |poles = 2 |fastest_laps = 3 |final_entry = S5 British GP }}ItalianEnglish Dynamics, also known as ItalianEnglish Racing or by its abbreviations IER '''and '''IED, is an Italian former GPGSL racing team. It was founded by team owner Ryan Gault. The team entered the GPGSL in Season 1, as one of the founders teams. It stayed in the series until Season 5 when the team folded. Racing History Season 1 The team entered Season 1 powered by Alfa Romeo engines and Bridgestone tyres, although they changed it to Dunlop later in the year. ItalianEnglish Racing's first line up saw two Dutchmen in the team, Rick Groeneboer and Ricardo van Smirren, who couldn't race for his own team Minardi as it had already two signed drivers. The first race at the Austrian Grand Prix was also their best, a fine drive from van Smirren, despite a mistake in which he pitted one more time than he should have, saw IER on the podium with a 3rd place. It was Van Smirren who would collect the majority of the teams points, with a succession of lower point scoring finishes in the first six races. Groeneboer on the other hand struggled, a 6th place in the Canadian Grand Prix was his only decent performance of that season. The final four races were ones to forget, as Van Smirren retired in all those races, while Groeneboer only managed points in the shortened race in the Australian Grand Prix. ItalianEnglish Racing would finish 10th in the Constructors Championship, with Ricardo van Smirren 11th and Rick Groenenboer 22nd in the Drivers Championship. Season 2 To the surpirse of some, ItalianEnglish retained the same two drivers for Season 2. As part of the allowance of test drivers, team owner Ryan Gault hired rookies Zak Tonks and Christopher Hinz to compete in practice sessions. However, the team dropped Alfa Romeo engines, opting for Maserati instead. It was a decision which paid off for Groeneboer, and within the second race he had scored his first career podium, a stunning 3rd place in the wet conditions at the Monaco Grand Prix. However, after that race he was to have a new team mate, as Ricardo van Smirren moved to a test role at Team Shadow Subaru. He was replaced by Tonks, in a shootout with Hinz at the Monaco practice session. And from the United States Grand Prix onwards Florian Kuhl was their new test driver. Tonks soon proved to be a fast one lap driver, often securing high qualifying performances. He settled into the role soon after, as a relative rookie he rarely impressed out on track, aside from his four points finishes. Groeneboer improved on his last season, but ultimately the car was not good enough, a woeful second half of the season saw IER get into the points just twice. The high point without a doubt though was Groeneboer's superb pole position lap at his home race in the Dutch Grand Prix, despite this, he was unable to capitalise and finished low down the order. IER would finish the season with the same 10th place as the year before. Season 3 In a surprising move, Ricardo van Smirren returned to the renamed ItalianEnglish Dynamics for Season 3, once again to partner Rick Groeneboer, with Tonks switching to Phoenix Racing, Hinz going to Double F to be a main driver and Kuhl being dropped, the team hired Janis Eglitis and Andrew Jewitt as their new test drivers, although through the season they were changed to rookies Ruben Greidanus and Daniel Thomas. The team also switched to Bridgestone tyres. They were quick to adapt, with a far better season than the previous two. It started with a win for Van Smirren in the season opener at the Australian Grand Prix, and then following it up with another win two races later at Indianapolis. Points were being scored by both drivers and things were generally looking up for IED. The momentum was stopped abruptly by a two double retirements in a row in rounds 7 and 8. What followed was a sensational race in the Malaysian Grand Prix, despite being 30seconds behind the race leader going into the final lap, Rick Groeneboer, with the help of the weather, strategy and ballsy driving, managed to pull off a spectacular win, his first ever win. He would win another race at the Brazilian Grand Prix while they got an one-two with Van Smirren winning at the Monaco Grand Prix. A last race 2nd place by Van Smirren at the British Grand Prix ensured that the team finished 3rd in the constructors, ahead of rivals Velox by just two points. Season 4 Ricardo van Smirren left the team for good at end of of season 3, opting to ride for his own team now named VSM. To replace him IED hired the first female in GPGSL history Keeley Grant who was at Lucky Seven Racing the previous year, partnered once again by the loyal Groeneboer. Florian Fischeder, former owner of Double F joined as a test driver alongside Greidanus, the latter would leave the team at the Hungarian Grand Prix to join Team Shadow, which meant the hiring of Jethro Walters as their new test driver. It was a much slower start to the season however, but a podium by Grant at the European Grand Prix kick started the season. From then on, IED were frequenters in the upper end of the point scoring positions, which culminated in three 2nd place finishes for Groeneboer and a race win for Keeley Grant at Indianapolis, as part of an one-two. In the end, despite it not being as successful a season, the team were virtually set for fourth place in the constructors all season, not good enough for the top 3 battle, but better than to scrap around with the others below. Season 5 For Season 5 it was full change for IED, both Rick Groeneboer and Keeley Grant moved to VSM, in their place came season 4 Test Driver Champion Zsigmond Somogyi, and Walters who was promoted to a main seat. IED also signed former Dark Xploder Racing's star Stuart Ingers and Joel Henrique as test drivers, but Ingers were later switch to his own team Aston Martin Racing and Henrique retired from the series midway through the season. Despite Somogyi scoring well in the first few races, Walters struggled, and after the Japanese Grand Prix, so did the Hungarian. It proved to be a struggle for ItalianEnglish Dynamics, after the highs of the previous two seasons, rooted to the bottom of the Championship for a long period. The only high would come from the Canadian Grand Prix, where Jethro Walters timed his pitstops to perfection to record the solitary podium of the season with a 2nd place. IED finished the season with the 9th place in the constructors championship, a huge drop from it previous years. It was decided by Ryan Gault that the team would retire at the end of the season, after admitting his interest in the series was dying. Complete GrandPrixGames Super League results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap; underlined races indicate most places gained) Gallery S01 IER.png|IER's season 1 car S02 IER.png|IER's season 2 car S03 IED.png|IED's season 3 car S04 IED.png|IED's season 4 car S05 IED.png|IED's season 5 car Category:GPGSL constructors